Legend of the Loch
by Ninnani
Summary: The legend of the monster in the Loch is an age old story. Some say the monster has made the Loch it's home since the beginning of time, but others say it was brought here from a tiny little island up north by a young dragon tamer. Rated T for depictions of mild violence.
1. Prologue

"Where are you?" The boy's mother sang in a thick Highland burr, glancing around the room for her son.

She smirked as she caught a glimps of his little boot as it disappeared under the bed.

"I'm coming to get you."

He snickered into his tiny hand, trying to stifle the sound as his mother's skirts passed his hiding spot. Quickly, he pulled himself the rest of the way under the bed and held his breath, watching his mother's brown boots come to a stop right in front of him.

"Where are you, you wee little devil, I'm comin' to get you." She dropped to her knees at the foot of the bed, but her son had scurried out the other side.

She smiled, rising from the floor. "Where is my little bear, aye? I'm going to gobble him up when I find him." She heard a small gasp from the far side of the room and her son's green gaze peeked over the bed.

"Ah, there he is." She yelled, diving across the bed and pulling the boy to her. He squealed and dissolved into laughter as his mother tickled his sides and blew raspberries into his neck. "I'm going to eat you. I'm gonna eat you."

"No, no," he managed to gasp in between fits of laughter, "mummy!"

His mother cackled along with him, tickling him until they were both out of breath.

"Alright," she laughed breathlessly, sitting up and pulling him onto her lap. "Bed time, little bear," she cooed, brushing his brown fringe away from his forehead.

The little boy pouted, "Aw, mum."

"Now, we'll have none of that whining from you lad," she said, scooping him up into her arms and sliding off the bed. She carried him out the door and down the hall, "A warrior needs his rest, so he can be wide awake and protect the kingdom from intruders. Ye want to be a warrior don't you?"

He sighed in resignation, resting his cheek against his mother's chest and wrapping his short arms around her neck, "Yes." He leaned back again and looked up at her, his wide green eyes questioning, "Can I have a story, Mum? Before I go to bed?"

She smiled, opening the door to his room and walking in, "Alright." He beamed at her, "One story and then it's off ta bed with you, you little monster."

"Yes!" He cheered as she set him on the bed. She just managed to take off his boots before he scrambled under the covers and settled himself against the pillows.

"What story would you like to hear, Bjorn?" His mother walked over to the fire place and poked at the dying embers. After a few well placed prods, tiny flames licked at the blackened fire wood.

"Um..." Bjorn thought for a moment as a lazy fire snapped to life across the room filling it with a warm glow. His face lit up as he decided, "tell the one about the monster in Loch Ness."

His mother smiled down at him and sat on the edge of the bed, "You like that story do you?"

He nodded eagerly and she laughed. "I like that one too," She cleared her throat and Bjorn sat up a little straighter, eyes glinting in the fire light, drinking in her every word. "The legend of the monster in the Loch is an age old story. For centuries, tales of a creature living in the depths of the Loch have been told by the light of a camp fire. Some say the monster has made the Loch it's home since the beginning of time, but others say it was brought here from a tiny little island up north by a young dragon tamer. You see, the island was sinking into the ocean, and with the dragon eggs ready to hatch, the dragon tamer had to come up with a solution, or the baby dragons wouldn't have a place to call home once they hatched."

"So, he flew over the ocean and led his village and the dragons too Rockwall," sang Bjorn, spreading his arms and flapping them like dragon wings. His mother laughed.

"Do you want to tell me the story, Bjorn?"

"No," He shook his head quickly, settling back under the covers, "You tell it better."

She smiled, stroking his cheek affectingly, "You're, right. He did lead the Vikings to Rockwall, but not before dropping something very important over the Scottish Highlands."

"A Dragon egg!" Bjorn gasped quietly. His eyes wide with wonder. His soft brown hair curled, perpetually windswept and sticking out every which way.

"Yes," She whispered, leaning towards him and brushing back a stray curl from his cheek, "but not just any egg. It was a Doomfang egg, the very last of it's kind. And who should find it but a princess, out on her daily ride through the forest around her home."


	2. Chapter 1

At first, he thought it was the beginnings of a thunderstorm that woke him and he almost fell back to sleep. This was Berk after all. Thunderstorms were a daily occurrence. Nothing to lose precious hours of sleep over.

His next thought, fighting through the thick haze of sleep, went to Toothless waking him up for an early morning flight.

He groaned, rolling onto his side, "Ugh, five more minutes, Bud. Come on."

The hut began to tremble under what he could only assume was his fat best friend, because he had to be getting fat if the weight of him was shaking loose dust from the rafters above his head. Hiccup coughed, rubbing sawdust from his eyes, and sat up, frowning.

"Toothless," He grumbled, throwing back the covers and reaching over the bedside table for his leg, "you over grown lizard. You're gonna knock my house down."

After a bit of groggy fumbling, he secured the metal leg to his thigh and hauled himself up from the bed. Toothless' impatient cries cut through the dank morning air.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," he mumbled, still half asleep

His father was already gone, he realized, as he stumbled down the stairs, pulling a wool tunic over his head. The fire was down to it's last smoldering embers with the remains of a half cooked breakfast hung over the pit. Stoick had probably decided halfway through making his porridge that he wasn't hungry after all. Hiccup rolled his eyes. He would be the one cleaning that up later.

"Another early morning on Berk," he sighed, pushing open the door and stepping out into the ice and snow of another below freezing December morning. Above him, Toothless' cries grew louder and more insistent as the shaking became more violent.

"Alright, I'm up. I'm up, what-," the words died on his lips, cut off by the roar of rock and stone crashing into the sea. The horizon was dark with the bodies of terrified dragons. The stone pillars that lined the beaches crumbled into the dark waters below. Roofs collapsed as houses gave way.

The streets were filled with Vikings trying to escape the wreckage of their homes, crying out for their loved ones in confusion and fear. The ground trembled, as if their collective fear had seeped into the very land.

"By the Gods." He whispered, eyes wide with terror and shock.

To his right, the strangled cry of a Thunder Drum ripped through the air as it tried to claw its way out of the splintered wood and thatch of a house that collapsed into its nest. Its body was pinned underneath a shattered wooden beam and it writhed and clawed as it desperately tried to free itself. Terrified, pale eyes met his and without thinking, Hiccup sprinted across the frozen ground, limping to the dragon's aid. He threw his weight against the beam, grunting as he tried to free the Thunder Drum. It didn't even budge.

Beneath him, the Thunder Drum continued to thrash and writhe. Hiccup ducked in an attempt to avoid its flailing tail.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay," He yelled, trying to sound as soothing as he could, considering the circumstances. "It's okay, I'm gonna get you out of here. You're gonna get out of here."

He threw himself at the beam again and to his surprise it moved. He looked up. Toothless stood above him, a fierce look in his green eyes as he rammed his shoulder against the beam and lifted it off of the dragon.

Toothless squawked under the strain of the beam and the Thunder Drum took off, shooting up from the ground and joining the mass of dragons in the sky.

"Hiccup!" Astrid and Ruffnut emerged from the crowed, supporting an bloodied Tuffnut between them.

"Astrid? What happened?"

"Oh, him?" Ruff looked down at her brother as if just realizing that he was there, hanging limply on her shoulder. Her eyes, filled with terror for her half conscious twin, contradicted her nonchalant tone. She was gripping her brother tightly, the knuckles of her left hand white around his wrist.

"He's fine." Tuffnut's pale face was gray, his eyes were half shut, flickering dangerously. He breathing was labored, coming out in short gasps and his skin was shining with sweat despite the chill in the air. His right leg was bloody and bent at an unnatural angle and a nasty looking bruise was forming across his forehead. He looked anything but fine.

Astrid looked up at him, her blue eyes wide. "Hiccup, what's going on? What's happening?"

"I-," He blinked at them. "I don't-,"

Again, he was cut off by an thundering roar as the ground beneath them shuddered. They stumbled, Hiccup fell against Toothless.

Beyond the village, the tree line sank, ripping itself from the island with a shattering screech as rock and stone split and fell backwards into the water surrounding Berk.

Astrid's gasp was lost as the sea swallowed entire eastern side of the island. She turned to Hiccup, Tuffnut's arm still slung around her shoulder. Fear flooding her face, "Hiccup, the arena!"  
His eyes widened as her words registered in his head. "The dragons." Toothless growled.

Without another thought, he heaved himself onto the leather saddle and slipped his feet into the stirrups, snapping his leg into the place.

"Ruffnut," He turned to Ruff and held his hands out for her brother, "Give him to me. We'll meet you at the arena."

"But what if," She hesitated, clutching her brother closer to her. All traces of the crazy, sarcastic, teen he had seen just yesterday were gone.

"He'll just slow us down, Ruff," Astrid said, trying to pull Tuffnut away from her "Give him to Hiccup."

After a few seconds she finally nodded, and the girls lifted the injured teen into Hiccup's lap, who settled Tuffnut against his chest, in between Toothless' head and the saddle. "If you drop him-"

"I know, I know. You'll gut me and feed me to Belch. I wont drop him, Ruff. I promise." He turned to Toothless, "Let's go, Bud."

With a nod, Toothless bounded across the wreckage, spreading his wings and launching himself into the air. Back on the ground Ruffnut and Astrid sprinted through the village behind them ducking and dodging their way through the crowd of Vikings scrambling to get off the island. Many of them were piling onto the docks, getting the women and children into the longboats. Those who could ride were taking off and joining the mass of dragons in the sky.

Toothless and Hiccup soared above them, racing towards the Academy which doubled as a stable where Stormfly and the other dragons were kept.

Hiccup, tightened his hold on Tuffnut, wrapping one arm across the boys chest, "Hang on, Tuff. We're almost there."

The boy groaned in response. "My leg," he moaned.

"I know, just hold on."

Below them, the destruction grew worse. Entire houses had been reduced to splinters, holes riddled the earth and trees lay on their sides, limp and stripped of their leaves. Berk was falling apart at the seams and there was nothing he could do to fix it.

Stormfly's cries cut through the air as Toothless dove through the broken chain dome and landed lightly in the arena. A spiderweb of cracks decorated the stone floor and the ground sloped dangerously towards the churning sea below. The dragons pounded against the oak door keeping them confined to their stalls, throwing their bodies against it again and again to no avail.

Hiccup slid off Toothless, dragging Tuffnut with him. The boy cried out, clutching at his injured leg as Hiccup tried to set him gently onto the floor.

"You're gonna be alright," Hiccup put his hands on the gash on Tuff's leg in an attempt to stanch the bleeding. The bruise over his forehead was a dark purple now, a stark contrast to his graying skin. "Come on, Tuff. Stay with me. You're a viking. This is nothing."

"Hic."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." Tuffnut murmured, eyes closed. Hiccup couldn't help but roll his eyes. He was going to be fine.

"Hiccup," behind him, Astrid, Ruffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout burst into the arena.

"Astrid, over here." She sprinted over to him, "Put your hands here, we gotta stop the bleeding. Ruff," Astrid's hands replaced his and he turned to Ruffnut. Her face was almost as pale as her brothers, "give me your belt."

Ruff fumbled with the leather strap on her pants without question and handed it to Hiccup, who turned back to Tuffnut and tied it tightly above the gash on the boy's thigh.

The banging on the wooden doors grew louder. Leaving Tuff with Astrid and his sister Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Snotlout ran to the doors, ripping them open and letting the dragons out. Hookfang was the first to burst from his cage, covered in flames. His eyes scanned the arena before falling on Snotlout and in one swift motion the Monstrous Nightmare grabbed the boy by the seat of his pants and took off, with Snotlout shouting his protest.

Meatlug stumbled forward into Fishleg's arms, whining loudly, followed by two Zipplebacks and a Nadder who took off immediately. Astrid rushed over to Stormfly, hauling herself on the dragon's bare back. Barf and Belch approached the twins, clicking and whistling frantically. Barf nosed Tuff's injured leg, green eyes filled with worry.

Another tremor shook through the island and Toothless was at Hiccup's side in an instant. He lifted himself onto the saddle as Barf and Belch took the injured Tuffnut in their claws and Ruff settled herself on Belch's head. Fishlegs hauled himself onto Meatlug and the three of them took off, Toothless leading the way out of the arena.

"Wait," Fishlegs and Meatlug pull up beside Toothless, "We need to get the dragon eggs."

He glanced over his shoulder at the arena, watching as the stone floor split down the middle and the academy tumbled into the ocean. Swearing loudly, he turned to Astrid. "Astrid, you and Ruff keep going. Get Tuffnut out of here." Hiccup looked at Fishlegs, "Legs, you and I'll-"

"No," He stopped, looking back at Astrid. She glared up at him, her blond hair flying free around her face, she hadn't had time to tie it back into its usual braid before the chaos started, "I'm coming with you."

He stared at her for a moment and the chaos seemed to fade. The wind died away and the thundering of rock and stone ceased as he took in her determined expression, blue eyes sparking dangerously. She wasn't going to be reasoned with. He nodded. She looked satisfied, her shoulders relaxing.

"Fine." and it all came back, like air being pushed out of the bellows in the smithy. He looked up at Ruffnut, "Ruff-," She shook her head.

"Don't need to tell me twice, oh Fearless Leader."

Hiccup smiled at her. "Be careful."

"Duh." Hiccup nodded to Fishlegs and Astrid and the three of them banked to the left, doubling back to Berk as Ruffnut joined the rest of the dragons fleeing the island.

The dragon eggs were kept in a small cave by the water, hidden by a small cluster of trees and rocks. Stormfly led the way as Meatlug and Toothless followed close behind, flying on either side of the mother Nadder. Every year, around winter time, the dragons would lay their eggs in the deep tide pools that littered the cavern floor. The mothers would leave them there, heating the water to boiling point until the eggs hatched and the babies used their wings to swim to the surface. Stormfly had laid her eggs earlier that week; Meatlug the day after.

Below them, the longboats had set sail, bearing the women and children away from Berk. Their faces were covered in dust and dirt, their eyes wide as they watched their home collapse. Gobber stood at the head of the boats, jaw slack and hanging open in shock, his silver tooth gleaming in the pale morning light.

When the three of them reached the entrance of the cavern the dragons jerked to a stop.

"Oh no." Hiccup stared, wide eyed, as Meatlug and Stormfly wailed in terror and fury. The entrance of the cave had collapsed, barricading the eggs inside the cavern.. Ignoring their riders, the mother dragons flung themselves at the wall, clawing at the rocks and desperately trying to break through to their eggs.

"Woah, girl," Fishlegs clung to the Gronkle's back, eyes wide in surprise at the normally docile dragon's violent reaction.

"Stormfly!" Astrid yelled over the loud grating of the Nadder's claws against stone, "wait." Her fingers snatched at the ivory spines on the dragons head, trying to keep herself from slipping down Stormfly's bare back, "We'll get them out, just wait."

Toothless let out an earsplitting screech that made everyone freeze, even the island seemed to pause its slow collapse into the ocean. Stormfly hissed, clicking and whistling at the him furiously. Her tail twitched furiously as she glared at the Night Fury.

Toothless snarled in return, nodding towards the wall of rocks and looking back at her, returning the Nadder's glare with an equally matched ferocity. Stormfly narrowed her eyes, sneering at Toothless before pushing herself off the wall. Astrid released her grip on the spikes, letting out a breath of relief. Meatlug whined, looking at the two in confusion before following suite, hovering in mid air beside Stormfly with a frightened looking Fishlegs still clinging to her back.

"Toothless?" Hiccup looked down at the Night Fury opened his mouth, and shot a mouth full of fire at the cave entrance, blasting a hole in the rock wall and shaking the entire island. When the dust cleared, Stormfly led the way into the cave, tucking in her wings and diving through the hole, landing lightly on the other side. Meatlug followed her, with much less grace than the Nadder and stumbled over to her eggs.

The air inside the cavern was damp and humid, filled with the lingering smell of sea salt and burnt earth from the blast. Small tide pools were gouged into the stone floor, carved long ago by the dragons for their young. Steam danced over the surface of the shallow pools where small clusters of multicolored eggs reflected the sunlight that streamed through the improvised entrance of the cave.

Various items hung from pegs on the wall of the cave; shelves bearing a dozen bottles varying is size filled with herbs for the hatchlings, leather satchels filled with charcoal to keep the water warm during particularly cold nights all hung on the walls.

A distant rumble sounded somewhere outside, muffled by the cave walls. Tremors continued to shake the island making the stalactites on the ceiling of the cave quiver dangerously, a reminder of the chaos raging outside.

Fishlegs scrambled off of Meatlug with more speed than Hiccup thought he was capable of, and snatched the leather bags off the pegs. He emptied their contents, tossing bits of charcoal to the floor. He tossed one to Astrid and another to Hiccup who caught it and held it open as they made their way to a nearby tide pool.

"We have to hurry," he said. His thick, nasally voice echoed off the walls, "I don't know how long this place will hold."

"I'm surprised it's held this long." Astrids voice sounded from the far end of the cavern as she carefully lowered three electric blue eggs into her satchel, with Stormfly supervising closely.

Fishlegs knelt beside the tide pool and plunged his beefy hands into the warm water, retrieving the three Gronkle's eggs from the bottom and placing them into the open satchel in Hiccup's hands. Meatllug poked her nose into the bag, sniffing and making sure her eggs were securely placed into the bag. Once she was satisfied, they moved onto the next pool and quickly placed the two dark green Zippleback eggs into the bag. The did the same with a burnt orange and a dusty gray egg until they filled the bag.

Behind them, Astrid did the same, moving from pool to pool and gathering the eggs. Stormfly followed close behind her watching the satchel closely, making sure no harm came to her eggs. In the entrance of the cave Toothless paced, stiff legged. His ears twitched, listening to the island and flinching every time it shook. The ground had settled to a permanent tremble and Hiccup had to grip Fishlegs' shoulder to keep from falling as they finished gathering the eggs.

It was only when a particularly violent tremor shook the cave that he stumbled, his foot slipping and sending him sprawling and the eggs rolling free across the damp stone. Meatlug cried out, scrambling for her eggs.

"Hiccup." Astrid rushed over to him, her satchel slung over her shoulder. Toothless bounded towards them, yowling in concern. He had almost reached them when Stormfly screeched in rage, throwing herself in front of Astrid, bearing her teeth, spines flaring. The Night Fury skidded to a stop in front of the mother. His green eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed and he drew himself up to his full height, spreading his wings and making himself seem much bigger than he actually was. His retaliating roar shook the cavern more violently than the tremors and stones fell from the ceiling, clattering to the floor.

"Stormfly, what are you doing?" Astrid tried to get her dragons attention, but to no avail. Stormfly was not letting up, hissing at Toothless and standing her ground in front of her rider.

"It's the eggs," Fishlegs took the satchel from Astrid's shoulder, "She doesn't want him near the eggs. Stormfly," he called her, yelling over the deafening rumble and ear splitting screeching of the dragons. "Over here girl. They're over here."

The Nadder turned towards him, her yellow eyes falling on the satchel. She squawked indignantly, following Fishlegs to the entrance of the cavern. Astrid and Toothless turned to Hiccup. She moved to help him up, but he waved her off.

"I'm fine, Astrid. Get the eggs," She hesitated. He swore, "Astrid, now! I can get up on my own." To try and prove his point he pushed himself up onto his knees. Her face hardened as he struggled to rise to his feet, his prosthetic struggling to grip the shuddering stone, but looking at his expression she nodded, turning to gather the eggs. Toothless took her place at his side, whining urgently, shifting his weight from side to side and offering his head for support, nudging Hiccup's side with his nose.

"Thanks bud," He grunted, using the dragon's support to haul himself up to his feet. "Come on, we got to get out of here." Toothless yowled in agreement as Hiccup pulled himself into the saddle.

The cavern was collapsing around them. The chaos outside had finally caught up with them. Stalactites were shaken loose, crashing to the floor. The ground shattered beneath them, a spiderweb of cracks expanding across the cavern and splitting the tide pools.

"I got 'em." Meatlug squealed as Astrid gathered the rest of the eggs and sprinted out of the cave, weaving in and out of the fallen rocks. Toothless spun as she passed them, the Gronkle close behind her, and followed them out of the cavern.

She sprinted towards Stormfly, and in one swift motion she swung onto the Nadder's back and took off out of the cave with a half filled satchel slung over her shoulder and an arm full of Gronkle eggs. Fishlegs flung himself onto a distraught Meatlug as she took off in pursuit of Astrid and her eggs. Toothless was right behind them, launching himself out of the cave entrance just as it collapsed, coughing up dust and dirt.

The cold wind whipped at their faces, biting at their cheeks, tossing their hair, and freezing the sweat on their foreheads. They all glanced at each other, their breath coming in short, gasping pants as they put as much distance between them and the falling island as they could, racing to catch up with the cluster of dragons and vikings fleeing from the island.

Fishlegs still clung to Meatlug's back, the satchel full of eggs tied shut and clutched tightly in his hand. His watery eyes were wide in shock, as if still trying to process what had happened.

Astrid's face was hard, frozen in a stiff grimace as she leaned forward on Stormfly. When she met Hiccup's gaze her mask slipped, only for a moment before she looked away, but Hiccup knew her well enough to see the shock and despair that they all felt reflected in her face.

He turned in the saddle to look at what was left of his home. The island that had once seemed so strong and sturdy was now nothing but a jagged rock jutting out over the sea. He watched until it finally disappeared into the dark water and all that was left was foam and floating debris.


End file.
